MORE INFORMATION

SETVER.EXE contains the version table used by MS-DOS version 5.0 to report itself as a version number other than the one actually running. This table can be modified by use of the SETVER command if the device driver SETVER.EXE has been installed in the CONFIG.SYS file. For example, the following command tells MS-DOS to report itself as version 4.01 whenever a program named FORMAT.COM is run:

   setver format.com 4.01

You can use the MS-DOS command ATTRIB to change the status of the SETVER.EXE program to read-only, meaning that the program should not be allowed to be modified or deleted. The following command performs this function, assuming that MS-DOS 5.0 was installed in the directory C:\DOS:

   attrib +r c:\dos\setver.exe

However, MS-DOS 5.0 still allows you to modify the version table even though the file has been marked read-only.

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in MS-DOS version 5.0. We are researching this problem and will post new information here as it becomes available.